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With the first nuclear reactor to be restarted in Japan after the 2011 Fukushima disaster to begin producing electricity soon, it’s clear the country’s government has decided to step back into the dangerous past rather than race into a sustainable future of renewable energy.

The government is restarting reactors despite opposition from local leaders and despite massive protests from Japan’s people. This disregard for their concerns has forced some groups to go to court to fight the restarts.

The government restarted the Number 3 reactor at the Ohi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture in central Japan on July 1. The tens of thousands of people who protested against the restart outside the prime minister’s office in Tokyo were ignored, even though Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda claimed he was “startled” by the huge size of the gathering. The government plans to restart Ohi’s Number 4 reactor later this month.

After being shown in such blunt terms that their government is not listening to them, concerned citizens are now resorting to legal means to try to stop the Ohi reactors.

The case of two groups, Green Action and Mihama-no-Kai (Osaka Citizens Against the Mihama, Ohi and Takahama Nuclear Power Plants), before a Japanese court concludes July 9, with a decision expected within two weeks.

The groups cite errors in the guidelines for reactor design safety criteria, the three active earthquake faults near the Ohi plant and the need to re-examine the fault under the plant. They also raise concerns that ageing piping at Ohi could be damaged by an earthquake, based on the suspicion that important equipment at the Fukushima reactors was damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and not by the subsequent tsunami. Here at Greenpeace we wish them every success in their bid.